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As part of its commemoration of CDC’s 50th anniversary, MMWR is reprinting selected MMWR articles of historical interest to public health, accompanied by current editorial notes.

Reprinted below is a report published February 9, 1974, which described the investigation of a cluster of cases of angiosarcoma of the liver among polyvinyl chloride workers in Kentucky, followed by a contemporary editorial note. The report illustrates the public health process in occupational safety and health—progressing from the initial observation of a new problem by informed clinicians through follow-up epidemiologic and toxicologic investigations to a targeted regulatory response, which virtually eliminated the newly recognized problem.